Cariogenic potential of sugared infant formula

The addition of sucrose to baby bottle containing infant formula is a usual practice in the first childhood, but its cariogenic potential is not known. Objectives: Evaluate the effect of milk and soy-based infant formulas, sugared or not, on the microbiological composition and acidogenicity of dental biofilm formed and on enamel demineralization. Methods: An in situ study with a cross-over and split-mouth design was conducted in 3 phases of 10 days each, during which 11 adult volunteers wore palatal appliances, containing two sets of three slabs of sound deciduous human enamel, whose surface microhardness (SMH) was predetermined. In each phase, each set of slabs was treated with: distilled deionized water (negative control; T1); 10% sucrose solution (positive control; T2); T3, Nestogeno 2 (Nestlé^® milk formula; T3); Nestogeno 2 + 10% sucrose solution (T4); Nan Soy (Nestlé^® soy formula; T5); Nan Soy + 10% sucrose solution (T6). On the 10^th day, the biofilm acidogenicity in response to the treatments was assessed and it was collected for microbiological analysis. SMH was determined again and its percentage of change (%SMC) was calculated. Results: The %SMC (mean ± SD) were respectively for groups T1 to T6: -3.1±2.8, -49.6±27.3, -14.6±12.7; -29.7±27.5, -30.5±18.1, -51.7±19.4. In the absence of sucrose, all treatments differed from each other and the addition of sucrose increased the %SMC for all groups (p<0.05). The lowest pH drop after exposure to treatments was observed for T6, which differed from T2 and T4 (p<0.05). The addition of sucrose to both formulas increased the counts of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in biofilms compared with the original formula (p<0.05). Conclusions: The results suggest that the soy formula evaluated is more cariogenic than the milk one and that sucrose enhanced the cariogenicity of both formulas. Supported by Capes and CNPq.